Countdown
by RiteOnTime
Summary: Annabeth gets ready for the departure of the Argo II and the chance to finally get Percy back. Somewhat during SON, since that's where this fits in the timeline. I do not own anything within the PJatO universe.
1. Chapter 1

In the nearly eight months that Percy has been gone, I saw Sally almost every two weeks or so. Mainly because I think we're the two people who love him the most and for me personally it's hard to pretend like I don't miss him as much as I do. It's the only time I don't try to hold in my emotions. Most of the time we spent together was talking about him, and even when I cried I didn't mind it so much because she would, too. Sometimes Mr. Blofis as well. I may have become comfortable calling Sally by her first name, but not him yet.

School had only just finished for me, but it was nothing to be excited about. What I _was_ excited about was the fact that Leo was almost done with the _Argo II_. There were only days left until we would be leaving, which meant there was only that much time left between Percy and I. At least I hoped.

I thought about how close I was to him as I walked the steps up to the Jackson-Blofis apartment. Sally and Mr. Blofis wanted to see me one last time before I left, and had even offered to drive me to camp, though I declined. As much I had enjoyed and needed their company, it could sometimes be too much. They were the closest thing to a family that I had outside camp, but it didn't feel right without Percy. Come to think of it, nothing did without him.

After ascending the last few stairs and walking to the right door, I set down my bags and knocked. They had invited me over for dinner, as tonight was to be my last night in the city before I left for camp. The bags were my things that weren't currently on the way back to my father's house, since returning students weren't allowed to leave their things at my boarding school.

My knocks were answered by muffled bustling on the other side of the door and the sound of locks being undone. Sally opened the door and beckoned me in while Mr. Blofis helped me bring my bags just inside their apartment. The smell of chocolate chip cookies filled the apartment and I smiled slightly. I knew they would be blue. _Percy's favorite_.

It didn't take long before Sally had dinner ready and we were seated around their small kitchen table. They asked me about school and about camp while we ate cookies but I could tell that they, especially Sally, were anxious to get Percy back, just like I was. Eventually we started talking about him, like we always did. Even though I had heard the story before, Sally told me about the first time she took Percy to Montauk.

That story was one of my favorites because it was just so consistent with the Percy I knew. She said that he had been so excited when he bounded into the water for the first time, and even though I hadn't been there, I smiled like I had. At least this time there were no tears and I was glad. There were too many emotions inside me threatening to surface and it was hard enough to keep my hands from shaking sometimes.

Once dinner was finished I helped Sally with the dishes while Mr. Blofis left the room. I think that trying to keep Sally together had worn him down and I was happy to give him a reprieve for a little while. None of this had been easy. There was something I wanted to ask before I left though, and it was drawing closer to the time I needed to leave.

"Sally," I started as I dried off a plate and placed it in a cupboard with the rest. She turned to look at me as she toweled her hands dry. "Would it be alright to pack some of Percy's clothes?" I asked once I turned around.

She smiled and nodded, placing the towel on the counter and asking me to follow her. We walked over to a closet where she took out a duffel bag and then I followed her into Percy's room. Over the past months I tried not to go in there as much as possible because it was hard to be somewhere that overwhelmingly felt like _him_. But there were times when I would break down and need to be in his room to feel some sort of connection to him. Now was one of this times, but I'd be damned if I was going to cry. It was time to get myself together.

Sally and I began going through the drawers in his dresser and piled up clothes on his bed. When we had compiled what we thought was enough, Sally packed everything into the duffel bag while I sat on his bed and looked around. I had seen his room before, but I still liked to look. My favorite part was his bedside table; he had placed a picture of us in a simple wooden frame sometime before his disappearance.

"Can you add this, too?" I asked Sally, having picked up the picture and extended it towards her.

"Sure," she said, smiling again and taking the photo from my hand. She placed it on top of everything else before zipping the bag shut. Just then Mr. Blofis appeared in the doorway.

"The cab's here," he said before walking towards the front door. I picked up Percy's bag and followed him with Sally behind me. He picked up my bags and she opened the door as I led the way downstairs. Once outside we loaded everything into the trunk of the cab and I turned to say my goodbyes to them both.

I turned to face Sally and was immediately engulfed in a hug. She was crying, and my eyes pricked, but I kept my own tears at bay; I had shed enough already.

"Bring him back, Annabeth. If anyone can, it's you. And please be safe." It was all I could do to nod and smile as she pulled away. Mr. Blofis watched us and as I turned to him, he smiled.

"Good luck," he said. At that I turned and got into the cab and gave the driver the address to Half-Blood Hill. I turned once more to look at Sally and Mr. Blofis and as we pulled away from the curb, I smiled and waved at them. With the last of our emotional evenings behind me, I turned to face forward. All I had to do was get through the next few days.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke to someone gently shaking me. At first I was annoyed because it felt way too early for anyone to be awake, least of all me. Lately I had a lot of trouble sleeping and any bit of rest I could get was welcome. But then I remembered why I was being woken up and I opened my eyes to see a tired looking Malcolm stifling a yawn.

"Thanks," I said, yawning myself. He didn't say anything as he ambled slowly out the door and turned to walk back to our cabin. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes before looking around. Once again I had found my way in the night to the Poseidon cabin and into Percy's bed. With a sigh I stood up, yawned again, and began to put the sheets back into a semblance of order.

It seemed that whenever I stayed at camp overnight, I always ended up here in the morning. That didn't happen before Percy disappeared; gods that would've been embarrassing. But it just kind of happened after he was gone. And it was embarrassing enough when it happened the first time and everyone freaked out thinking that I had gone missing as well.

Malcolm eventually found me tucked in to Percy's bed. He promised not to tell anyone, and when people asked where I had been he lied for me and said he had found me asleep on the beach. Ever since then, whenever I slept at camp, Malcolm would come get me early in the morning before anyone else was awake. I think he understood to some degree that it was part of me coping, so he didn't say anything to me about it. Thankfully.

Once I had straightened the sheets to make it look like I hadn't slept there, I walked the same way Malcolm had back to the Athena cabin to find solace in my own bed. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep but at least I would have about an hour to myself before the camp began to stir. When I got back to my own cabin I saw that Malcolm had already gone back to sleep and made a mental note to thank him later. Some of the others probably guessed as to where I spent my nights, and I was glad that he hadn't told them.

Before I got into my bed, I pulled one of Percy's shirts out of his duffel bag and held it close as I settled under my sheets. It smelled like him – the sea and that _something else_ that I could never quite place.

The next hour passed quicker than I expected it to. It must have been almost nine when I started to hear the familiar sounds of people waking up and decided it was time I got up as well. Rather than explain why I had one of Percy's shirts clutched to my chest, I buried the garment under my sheets before feigning having just woken up. I grabbed one of my camp shirts, a pair of shorts, and some toiletries and headed for the bathroom in the hopes that a cold shower would break me out of the melancholy mood I seemed to be in.

A half hour later I was leading everyone to breakfast; some were dressed and some were still wearing pajamas, but I didn't really care. We got our food and when I went up to the fire to make an "offering," I didn't say anything. At this point it was purely ceremonial. The gods weren't talking, so why should they expect anything from us?

I sat down at the Athena table and ate in silence while others chattered around me. Malcolm settled in next to me and I took the opportunity to actually thank him. He muttered a quiet "you're welcome" before delving in to his food. I didn't blame him for not wanting to talk to me; I knew I was hard to be around lately. Seeing Percy again would change that.

When I deemed that a considerable amount of time had passed of me pretending to eat, I left to walk to Leo's workshop. I came back to camp almost every weekend to check on his progress and maybe that was somewhat annoying, but it helped me a little bit. In all honesty I was impressed with how quickly Leo was working, though I would probably never tell him that.

The ship was almost completed and the only thing keeping us from leaving was Leo finally deeming it fit to fly. I was hoping that this morning I would be able to give him some encouragement to speed things along. My anxiety was beginning to boil to the surface; I didn't know how much longer I could sit around and just _wait_. It was one of my least favorite things to do.

I came up to the entrance of the workshop and looked for the sometimes-hard-to-see doorbell Leo had installed. In all his smartass-y glory, he had thought it funny. Percy probably would have thought it was funny, but I was not amused. I found and hit the button a few times before pulling back and waiting for Leo. He was almost always here unless he needed help from some of his brothers and sisters, or some food. Even then he sometimes went without meals in his excitement over building the "most super-mega-awesome ship you will ever see." His words, not mine.

Eventually a large hole appeared in the rock to reveal Leo. He let out an exasperated sigh when he saw me, and I prepared myself for a smartass comment. "Annabeth, _come on_, you have a _boyfriend_. Stop hounding at me." Leo smiled while I glared at him, but secretly I was glad that he at least didn't seem to have any problems talking to me. And it helped that it reminded me of Percy.

After a few moments of me glaring at him, his smile faltered. "Or not…" he said, and I relented just a little.

"Can I come in?" I asked, knowing the answer would be a resounding yes, as always. Leo liked to talk about his work to the point where some people got annoyed with him. Mainly because they didn't know what he was talking about. I was one of the few people who understood the majority of the things he said, so we talked a lot about mechanics. Thankfully I had been very involved with the process of building the ship, which helped distract me from everything I needed to be distracted from.

"Sure!" he responded, the smile back on his face. He bounded in to the workshop and I followed. My eyes instantly went to the _Argo II_ and I was glad to see that the furniture that was scattered about the shop just a week before was now gone, hopefully on board the ship. And that was one of the last things we needed to do before we could leave, along with what Leo described as "minor adjustments."

"How long until your 'minor adjustments' are complete?" I had only gone a little ways into the workshop and Leo wasn't very far in front of me. He looked at the ship and then to me as he walked over.

"I'll probably be done by tonight, just got some programming to perfect!" His smile grew even larger across his face. He was seriously proud, as he should be, and I couldn't help smiling with him. If he was going to be done by tonight, that meant we would be leaving tomorrow and then it was just one more day after that until we got to Percy.

That's all I had visited the workshop for – to get a timetable for when we would finally be leaving. It was sooner than I thought, but that didn't faze me. The sooner the better. I didn't need to see anything else, so I said a quick goodbye and walked out the way I came and back towards the cabins.

Now that I knew we would be leaving tomorrow, I could feel my anxiety creep up on me again. I needed a distraction. Which would probably end up being going through Daedalus' laptop. Those plans were deterred, however, when I was met by Chiron on the edge of the forest, no doubt waiting for me.

Percy's disappearance had hit him hard as well, though he probably did a better job of hiding it from the campers than I did. After training half-bloods as long as he had, I thought that it might be easier on him. But he cared too much about Percy to remain unconcerned.

I assumed that he knew we would be leaving this time tomorrow and had decided to round up those of us leaving from  
our camp. He asked me to accompany him to the Big House and upon arriving, I saw that I was right. Piper and Jason were sitting quite cozily on a couch when Chiron and I walked in. They, like Leo, hadn't let my mostly sour attitude get to them. It's not like I was always Angst-y Annabeth, and they had gotten to see that a few times.

We smiled at each other as I sat down in a chair to face Chiron. He was probably just going over some last minute details or something, so I didn't really bother to pay attention. That is, until he told us he wouldn't be coming.

"What in Hades do you mean?" I exclaimed. I was angry. He was _supposed_ to go with us; it was his idea that we have a chaperone in the first place. Instead of answering he held up a hand.

"Coach Hedge will go with you instead, as my duties remain here." Rather than make another exclamation, I stayed silent. That didn't keep me from brooding, though. I couldn't believe it was going to be _Hedge_ going with us; that guy was a maniac. If Chiron wasn't going, why didn't he pick someone else? Of all the satyrs to pick…

After that I tuned out again so as to focus on the important task of damning everyone I could think of for the situation we were in. We needed Chiron to be a diplomat for us. Sure, Jason was supposed to help "bridge the gap" between the Greek and Roman camps, but with Chiron there he would be able to help me. And I felt so helpless.

Chiron was finally coming to the end of his talk. He wished us all luck before dismissing us and I left the Big House for the safety of Daedalus' laptop as fast as I could. I was in desperate need of a distraction.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite how much I needed the rest of the day to move quickly, it progressed at a sluggish pace. I was immensely aware of every minute that passed along with the weird fluttery feeling in my chest that I could not get to go away. I've heard that the more often you check what time it is, the slower it goes, but I'd never actually _believed_ it until now.

And Daedalus' laptop could only do so much. I mean the prophecy that I had hoped so much would be left to another generation was here less than a year after we had already saved the world. Gods, could we not catch a break?

There were so many times in just that day alone where I wanted to throw the laptop on the floor and break anything and everything I could get my hands on. Was it too much to ask for a strong enough distraction to keep me from thinking about tomorrow so much? Apparently the answer was yes because despite how much I tried to focus on understanding some new equation or model, my thoughts strayed to Percy.

Then _finally_ it was time for dinner, and I was sure that most of the camp would know that Leo, Piper, Jason and I were leaving in the morning. Which meant that dinner would be my next distraction so long as I could keep my thoughts in check. Most of my siblings were in our cabin and it only took a few minutes for the one or two others to show up before we left for the pavilion. It was also fairly obvious, as I listened in on the conversation behind me, that the main topic for discussion was the departure of the _Argo II_.

We reached the pavilion and were greeted by the intense murmur of almost every single camper talking to one another. Dinner hadn't started yet and as I made my way to the Athena table, I saw more than a few people looking at me. Their looks made me want to break something all over again; they were so full of pity and unease and they had no right to feel those things towards me.

Instead of lashing out like I wanted, I sat down and pretended to listen to whatever crap Chiron was spouting about our quest that seemed to enrapture the other campers. And then the food appeared. Someone was seriously trying to screw with me because everything on my plate was _fucking blue_. Angry tears welled in my eyes but I'd be damned if I was going to let them fall.

I stood up, plate in hand, carrying my blue vegetables next to my blue chicken and I went to the fire to make my "offering." I scraped every morsel off that damned plate and into the fire without a word and walked as stoically as possible back to the Athena cabin. A small part of my mind registered that people were not talking nearly as loudly as before and that I was getting a lot of worried looks. But no one stopped me as I set my plate down and walked down to the beach.

My hunger suddenly quelled and a sufficient distance between myself and the rest of the camp, I finally let out my anger. I didn't scream and I didn't cry and I didn't break anything, but I cursed a lot under my breath. A few more minutes found me at the beach, which I had tried to avoid despite the comfort that I felt being close to the water.

Sometimes, if the sun glinted off the water in just the right way, it looked like the same green as Percy's eyes. That's what I told myself anyway. As I settled into the sand, I noticed that that's how the ocean looked to me right now. And then I smiled.

It wasn't one of the smiles like when Percy is being an absolute idiot and you can't help it; those had disappeared with him. This smile was recognition of the hope that I carried for so long and the ache that filled the symbolic hole he left behind. And it was going to end so soon because we were so close and I wanted to be sitting there with him so badly that I could almost feel his hand on my shoulder, even though the hand I felt wasn't as big as his was.

I sighed realizing that there was no way _someone_ wouldn't have come after me. Why was it so hard for me to be left alone? It was one of the more annoying habits everyone around me had picked up. Gods forbid they leave me alone for too long and I leave camp to search for him. Admittedly, that had happened and it did create something of a panic, but they'd found me in time and I was still alive so what did it matter?

"I'm fine," I say, not bothering to look to see who it is this time because I don't care. Maybe they see through the lie just as well as I do because they don't leave, instead sighing and moving to sit down next to me. I keep my eyes focused on the horizon, but I can just make out Rachel's profile and the red gleam of her hair reflected by the sun. She probably meant well and I probably should have been nicer, but I had no idea how I was going to get through the next twelve hours until we _left_. There was still the matter of traversing the country and trying to locate the Roman camp that Jason had assured us would not be easy to find.

"Give me a little credit," she says, looking at me. Part of me wants to yell and part of me wants to get up and run away for as long as I can and part of me wants to sink into the ocean to be carried along by the tide. Instead I remain where I am, silent, wishing that I were looking at the green of Percy's eyes instead of the green of the ocean. I'm wishing that it were Percy here instead of Rachel and like so many times before, the wish falls in front of my eyes because I know that it can't be true.

She doesn't say anything for a long time. The sun dips below the horizon and the last light of the day fades and then the chill of night begins to set in. I can't see anything of the ocean besides the reflection of the light from the camp behind me, but I can hear the gentle slapping sound as waves hit the sand. Still, Rachel doesn't say anything and she doesn't move; she just sits.

I know that it's been hours and I know that it's getting late and, "I can't feel my butt anymore." Hopefully this one small thing will reassure her that I can still _be_ Annabeth and that I know that it's sucked having to put up with me because I've had to put up with me, too. She laughs, which is what I was hoping for, and she shifts next to me so she can look at me better. For the first time in hours, I turn to look at her, too.

"I wish I could go with you," she says, and even though I can't see her face that well I know that she means it because she has missed him, too.

"That would probably ruin the mystery of the Oracle," I say by way of trying to joke. I don't think I'm too far off when she utters a derisive snort.

"Like the gods care right now anyways." I can't help but agree with Rachel. If they cared they wouldn't have closed Olympus and if they cared they wouldn't have taken Percy.

Maybe she wants me to say something else, but I don't have anything to add. We sit in silence again and I look back out onto the water. The ache is back and I'm trying to keep myself from hyperventilating when she starts talking again.

"Annabeth," she starts by way of trying to get my attention. As if I'd forgotten she was there. In an effort to be polite I turn to look at her and in the dim light I can see her worry for me and I can't help but feel bad about the way I've been treating her. There just isn't enough in me to do anything more than register that thought and file it away for later. "Just be careful, okay?" she continues, beginning to stand up.

As she's walking away, I can hear her tell me to try and get some rest. I listen to her footsteps receding back towards camp until I can't hear them anymore. All that I have left is the sound of the water hitting the beach and my own breathing.

Then I remember one of the days after the war when I had gone looking for Percy and found him staring out into the ocean. When he saw me he motioned for me to sit with him and when I did I couldn't help but smile when he put his arm around my waist. I had put my head on his shoulder and told him that he shouldn't think so hard because he might damage his brain. He had laughed and made a joke that I wish I could remember.

For once I found myself wanting to be optimistic. I mean in what would more or less be no time at all I would get him back. So instead of sitting on the beach and continuing to wallow or reminisce in any more ridiculously sappy memories, I got up. And instead of making any sort of pretense of pretending to sleep in my own cabin, I walked to Percy's. People looked, but they didn't say anything. Gods was I ready to get away from all of their pity.

I lay down on his bed, only bothering to take off my shoes before burrowing into the sheets. His camp shirt was under his pillow where I left it and I held it against my chest. And instead of trying to give myself some kind of pep talk, I thought about how tired I was and how exhausting it is worrying about another person. Percy had better learn his lesson about not getting kidnapped when I found him.


End file.
